The humorous yet hotly debated Cheif Wahoo logo will be no more in 2019 after it was agreed upon by Robert Manfred and the Cleveland Indians organization that the logo that has been sported on the caps and sleeves of Cleveland Indians attire since 1932 was “no longer appropriate for on-field use in Major League Baseball”.

After many meetings between Robert Manfred and the Cleveland Indians during Manfred’s tenure as MLB Commissioner, regarding the wacky logo, the club ultimately made is the decision to get rid of the provocative symbol.

The Indians’ Cheif Wahoo logo has been a topic of debate for years and has been adored by some and loathed by many more. The Chief has been seen as a racist symbol and it has been argued for many years that it is inappropriate and uncalled for to place it on a Major League Uniform.

Here is Major League Baseball’s full statement on the matter:

“Major League Baseball is committed to building a culture of diversity and inclusion throughout the game,” said Commissioner Manfred. “Over the past year, we encouraged dialogue with the Indians organization about the Club’s use of the Chief Wahoo logo.  During our constructive conversations, Paul Dolan made clear that there are fans who have a longstanding attachment to the logo and its place in the history of the team.  Nonetheless, the club ultimately agreed with my position that the logo is no longer appropriate for on-field use in Major League Baseball, and I appreciate Mr. Dolan’s acknowledgment that removing it from the on-field uniform by the start of the 2019 season is the right course.”

“We have consistently maintained that we are cognizant and sensitive to both sides of the discussion,” said Cleveland Indians owner Paul Dolan. “While we recognize many of our fans have a longstanding attachment to Chief Wahoo, I’m ultimately in agreement with Commissioner Manfred’s desire to remove the logo from our uniforms in 2019.”

Interestingly, reports state that the Cleveland Indians will continue to sell merchandise with the Cheif Wahoo logo on it, but fans will be unable to purchase it via MLB.com. Additionally, there will (obviously) be no banners or posters depicting Wahoo in Progressive Field following the 2018 season.

In addition, the Cleveland Indians will host the All-Star Game in 2019, following the execution of Cheif Wahoo.

So there it is, following 2018, Cheif Wahoo will be no longer and it is final. I, as a baseball fan, personally never minded it as it has been a symbol of Cleveland baseball for many years, and while it may be good riddance now, for most baseball fans, a large part of the Cleveland faithful will miss the Chief and all of the history behind it.